Said about Intervac in the press

Home From Home - Intervac In The Irish Times

Home From Home is an engaging account of an Irish family's first home exchange. The writing is clever and the author gives a clear picture of the unusual types of fun available to home exchangers. There's nothing like it!

DEIRDRE VELDON and family swapped Dublin for Stockholm on a home exchange holiday

The trip is the upshot of blowing the entire annual holiday fund on a desperate sun-seeking trip to Portugal earlier in the year and nights upon nights spent fiddling about on a home exchange website. Failure to follow through can be a problem with house swaps, but nothing paints up a proposition and focuses the mind like a tiny budget.

We plump for Sweden because it’s cheap to get to and it seems a wallet-friendly way to see a country with a high cost of living. Crucially, we have found a Swedish family who seem half interested in the package we’re offering.

Journalists in Iceland Are On To Intervac!

Looks like the financial crisis in Iceland is turning out to be good for something and by that we mean for promoting home exchange. We all know that home exchange is the most financially attractive way to travel, that it's also environmentally sound and perfect for families. Here's a super article in the Icelandic press proving our point! Thanks Fólk Magazine!

Great Article in Canada's Globe and Mail

I especially like the photo of the author's home for exchange. It makes the perfect point that you don't have to live in a mansion or a villa to exchange your home. It should be clean and in good repair in order to offer your guests a comfortable, stress-free holiday, but that is common sense. Mr. Blake's home looks lovely and from the article it's clear that he doesn't have any trouble finding exchanges around the world.

Through our membership in InterVac (short for International Vacation, with a nominal membership fee of $129 a year), travel has become a bargain. It makes it easier to splurge elsewhere when you save by cooking your own meals. But more important, staying in a home provides insights into the culture you're visiting. With a house exchange, you're not in a hotel zone. You're in a real neighbourhood. Shopping for food and visiting local cafés and restaurants for a couple of weeks has an intimacy no hotel stay has matched.

Joseph Blake, the author goes on to detail some of his varied experiences in other peoples homes around the world. It's a great read, full of stories about the fun and serendipity that home exchange vacations are known for.

Irish Times: From home to home on your holidays

Sandra O'Connell, she writes the Go Niche column in the Saturday Irish Times, has also written an article on reasons for exchanging homes during a recession. She interviews several people intimately involved in the home exchange experience (one of whom is our own Frank Kelly) and there are some very nice stories from home exchangers about their experiences. Thanks, Sandra!